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Topic: Question about sin and communion (Read 2478 times)

Hello everyone. It's freezing here in Chicago and I hope everyone is warmer than I am

My question is, if I can work it correctly, how much sin will exclude me from partaking in communion?

Let me give you an example. I have confession this Monday (the 19th). If I sin 5 times, does that mean I can not partake in communion on Sunday? What about 50? If I sin, but truly ask for forgiveness, can I still do it? Granted, I do not keep a running tally of my sins during the week, but at least I am aware of them.

It might be hard or impossible to put a number on it. Would it be beneficial to do confession on a Saturday so I can decrease the amount of time I have to sin? Lets be adults here, we all sin constantly. Sinning is so natural and easy that the only way to not sin is to die

There are a few sins I struggle with above and beyond other sins, and I want to be in a pure state for Sunday (the 25th) for communion. I'm just worried that I might sin "too much" between Monday and Sunday.

I don't think you can put a number on it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the most important items as far as I've read are magnitude/seriousness of the sin, time elapsed since last confession, and time elapsed since last communion.

I am glad you are trying to make sure you are properly prepared for communion. It just seems to me like you are perhaps going about it in an overly legalistic way, perhaps a bit calculating, too. When I was Catholic, I certainly had thoughts like yours along the lines of, "Hey, I should confess the night before so that I don't have time to sin before communion," but I ultimately found it more beneficial to confess when the opportunity to meet with a good confessor was available and then work extra hard to keep myself clean for however long it was until I intended to take communion. If you do the confession the night before, it's great, it's much better than not confessing, but it might not give you much of an incentive to shape up.

KBN1 is absolutely right that you should discuss this with your confessor, though! Best of luck!

But, the point is to discipline ourselves and try NOT to sin....especially a sin we just confessed to having committed.

If you just confessed it, promised to try your best not to commit it again....and 5 minutes later did, than there's a problem. Are you even "trying" to not do it?

Don't focus on the sins you have committed....instead focus on NOT committing them going forward.

Logged

Conquer evil men by your gentle kindness, and make zealous men wonder at your goodness. Put the lover of legality to shame by your compassion. With the afflicted be afflicted in mind. Love all men, but keep distant from all men.—St. Isaac of Syria

Hello everyone. It's freezing here in Chicago and I hope everyone is warmer than I am

My question is, if I can work it correctly, how much sin will exclude me from partaking in communion?

Let me give you an example. I have confession this Monday (the 19th). If I sin 5 times, does that mean I can not partake in communion on Sunday? What about 50? If I sin, but truly ask for forgiveness, can I still do it? Granted, I do not keep a running tally of my sins during the week, but at least I am aware of them.

It might be hard or impossible to put a number on it. Would it be beneficial to do confession on a Saturday so I can decrease the amount of time I have to sin? Lets be adults here, we all sin constantly. Sinning is so natural and easy that the only way to not sin is to die

There are a few sins I struggle with above and beyond other sins, and I want to be in a pure state for Sunday (the 25th) for communion. I'm just worried that I might sin "too much" between Monday and Sunday.

Wait a min..........i have my sin/time, matrix spreadsheet here somewhere. well i cant find it right now.

Are you serious with this question? this is right up there with can cavemen commune?

Look into your heart and decide for yourself if you are worthy to commune! If you feel any guilt for what you did then you are not ready.

The longer this thread goes on, the more I think that maybe this was an elaborate joke by John the Ninja.

But then if you look at his post history, most of them are rather odd questions, some of which seem to show this same sort of tone-deafness. In one post, he also states that Indiana is a different country than Illinois. I wonder if John could be autistic (bad reading of social cues, focus on numbers instead of nuance).

Wow! I'm not able to count all the day my sins. I've just once done this thing - I was counting my sins for 2 days, but just to see, how many approximately and which sins I commit during the day. It was interesting spiritual exercise, however I'm sure normally I commit more sins - during this experiment I was paying more attention on these matters

But don't be so legalistic. The most important thing about sins is the lack of love (to God, to your family, friends, in the end also to yourself) and as izrima wrote: magnitude/seriousness of the sin. We sin so frequently, that even if you are right after the confession and go to Communion, there is practically no possibility to parteke It without sin. That's why for so many years a lot of Orthodox was going to the Eucharist once,twice per year, but as we know, that's not good attitude.

Every time you fall, give repentance and love to God and to people you have hurt by this sin, and if it was not so serious, go to the Communion, unless your confessor says something different.

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The thing to remember is that no one is ever worthy (iow, pure enough) to receive Communion, and the moment you think you are, you've approached a level of arrogance and pride where you probably shouldn't be receiving Communion anyway. Communion is Christ's gift to sinners, so unless you've not been to confession in a while or have a major sense of guilt over a recent sin or have offended someone and need to be reconciled with that person, I would say stop worrying over how many sins you've committed and just receive Communion.

The thing to remember is that no one is ever worthy (iow, pure enough) to receive Communion, and the moment you think you are, you've approached a level of arrogance and pride where you probably shouldn't be receiving Communion anyway. Communion is Christ's gift to sinners, so unless you've not been to confession in a while or have a major sense of guilt over a recent sin or have offended someone and need to be reconciled with that person, I would say stop worrying over how many sins you've committed and just receive Communion.

To add to this, I have always thought that Communion should be treated less as a reward for those good little boys and girls, but as healing medicine for the scum of the Earth...which reminds me, I should probably receive it again in the near future...

The longer this thread goes on, the more I think that maybe this was an elaborate joke by John the Ninja.

But then if you look at his post history, most of them are rather odd questions, some of which seem to show this same sort of tone-deafness. In one post, he also states that Indiana is a different country than Illinois. I wonder if John could be autistic (bad reading of social cues, focus on numbers instead of nuance).

What evidence is there that this is a joke? It was a serious question. I'm an engineer and I sit in front of the computer and do math and chemistry all day. I do focus on numbers. I'm also positive that the questions I have asked were not exclusive to me. Others have thought the same questions, and I was glad (maybe not so much anymore) to find a place where I could actually get my questions answered.

After this worthless reply, I might not use this forum again.

EDIT:

When it comes to places like Indiana (among other states), they do not have the fast paced life style like we do in Chicago. I don't like that laid back, slow pace of Indiana, Nebraska and other places. This is just my personal opinion, and like many things in life, I make jokes about it.

What evidence is there that this is a joke? It was a serious question. I'm an engineer and I sit in front of the computer and do math and chemistry all day. I do focus on numbers. I'm also positive that the questions I have asked were not exclusive to me. Others have thought the same questions, and I was glad (maybe not so much anymore) to find a place where I could actually get my questions answered.

After this worthless reply, I might not use this forum again.

EDIT:

When it comes to places like Indiana (among other states), they do not have the fast paced life style like we do in Chicago. I don't like that laid back, slow pace of Indiana, Nebraska and other places. This is just my personal opinion, and like many things in life, I make jokes about it.

Hi John,I am sorry for having offended you. I hope that you will stay here with us. I think a number of us were surprised by the extremely high degree of legalism in your question. Clearly being legalistic is not uncommon; in my first reply to this topic, I discussed my own struggles with legalism. For me, though, I'd never read something quite as extreme as your question, but knowing that you were sincere in asking it means you can't be faulted for it. Sorry. I hope you'll stick around.

What evidence is there that this is a joke? It was a serious question. I'm an engineer and I sit in front of the computer and do math and chemistry all day. I do focus on numbers. I'm also positive that the questions I have asked were not exclusive to me. Others have thought the same questions, and I was glad (maybe not so much anymore) to find a place where I could actually get my questions answered.

After this worthless reply, I might not use this forum again.

EDIT:

When it comes to places like Indiana (among other states), they do not have the fast paced life style like we do in Chicago. I don't like that laid back, slow pace of Indiana, Nebraska and other places. This is just my personal opinion, and like many things in life, I make jokes about it.

Hi John,I am sorry for having offended you. I hope that you will stay here with us. I think a number of us were surprised by the extremely high degree of legalism in your question. Clearly being legalistic is not uncommon; in my first reply to this topic, I discussed my own struggles with legalism. For me, though, I'd never read something quite as extreme as your question, but knowing that you were sincere in asking it means you can't be faulted for it. Sorry. I hope you'll stick around.

Hello everyone. It's freezing here in Chicago and I hope everyone is warmer than I am

My question is, if I can work it correctly, how much sin will exclude me from partaking in communion?

Let me give you an example. I have confession this Monday (the 19th). If I sin 5 times, does that mean I can not partake in communion on Sunday? What about 50? If I sin, but truly ask for forgiveness, can I still do it? Granted, I do not keep a running tally of my sins during the week, but at least I am aware of them.

It might be hard or impossible to put a number on it. Would it be beneficial to do confession on a Saturday so I can decrease the amount of time I have to sin? Lets be adults here, we all sin constantly. Sinning is so natural and easy that the only way to not sin is to die

There are a few sins I struggle with above and beyond other sins, and I want to be in a pure state for Sunday (the 25th) for communion. I'm just worried that I might sin "too much" between Monday and Sunday.

depends on what sin you are talking about. There's a difference between, for instance, between leaving work five minutes early, and spending the weekend in bed with the boss's wife.

Absolutely pure? Never happens, so don't sweat that. Ask your Father Confessor if you should be worried about what you are worried about.

Logged

Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it; but if he did anything so that he may do it no more.A hasty quarrel kindles fire,and urgent strife sheds blood.If you blow on a spark, it will glow;if you spit on it, it will be put out; and both come out of your mouth

The longer this thread goes on, the more I think that maybe this was an elaborate joke by John the Ninja.

But then if you look at his post history, most of them are rather odd questions, some of which seem to show this same sort of tone-deafness. In one post, he also states that Indiana is a different country than Illinois. I wonder if John could be autistic (bad reading of social cues, focus on numbers instead of nuance).

What evidence is there that this is a joke? It was a serious question. I'm an engineer and I sit in front of the computer and do math and chemistry all day. I do focus on numbers. I'm also positive that the questions I have asked were not exclusive to me. Others have thought the same questions, and I was glad (maybe not so much anymore) to find a place where I could actually get my questions answered.

After this worthless reply, I might not use this forum again.

EDIT:

When it comes to places like Indiana (among other states), they do not have the fast paced life style like we do in Chicago. I don't like that laid back, slow pace of Indiana, Nebraska and other places. This is just my personal opinion, and like many things in life, I make jokes about it.

Yo, dog. Don't be dissin' on Nebraska unless you want me to call Herbie Husker on you. And we all know what he does with corn. It ain't pretty.